So Much to be Thankful For

I spent last week back in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. There is nothing like going home to spend time with family and friends. I went back and forth between Raleigh and Little Washington to spend time with my family and Tyler's. I enjoyed sitting around and talking with those that mean the most to me. I, of course, found time for shopping while I was home. I'm not really into Black Friday shopping with hundreds of people but I did go to the outlets and found a couple Christmas gifts Friday evening. I'll be back home next week so I can officially start shopping.

Before a Thanksgiving church service with Tyler's family

Home Sweet Home

Keerg: Sorority Jewelry

During the summer, one of my close friends and sorority sister asked me to help her and her husband with a new company they were working on. Some of my sisters went and modeled the jewelry Lyndsay and Jon had designed. Their company, Keerg is an exclusive sorority jewelry line. You can choose from gorgeous pieces and have your sorority's greek letters engraved on them. They offer all Panhellenic sororities. All of their pieces are one of a kind. I have the ring and I love it! One of my favorite parts of their jewelry line is that $5 of every purchase will be donated to your sorority's philanthropy. I am extremely passionate about Phi Mu's philanthropy, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and this is an amazing way to give back. Take a look at their website and all of the beautiful pieces they currently offer.

Keerg Ring

Keerg Earrings 

Keerg Necklace 

Keerg Bracelet 

Fall in Charleston

Hey Y'all! I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in a while. I have been so busy with work and enjoying my time in Arkansas. I promise that I am going to start blogging more. Just a few updates...

I was able to go home this past week. It's true that you don't realize how much you miss home until you are away from it. There certainly is no place like home and the Carolinas. I haven't seen my family, friends or Tyler since July so I was very excited to see everyone. It worked out perfectly because it was Tyler's fall break in law school so we went to Charleston this past weekend. Charleston is my favorite city and we always try to go there a couple times during the year. We stayed at The Inn at Middleton Place which is on Middleton Place Plantation. This was our first time going there and it was so beautiful and relaxing! If you enjoy going to Charleston, I certainly recommend trying to stay here. We spent time on the plantation and in the gardens, shopping on King Street and of course eating at all the local places. I had such a wonderful time at home. I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with those who mean the most to me.

This is where a scene from The Patriot was filmed!

Polka Dot Lovin'

I just love fall fashion!  I am obsessing over all of the polka dot things that are out this fall.  I have spent the past few days looking online for new polka dot items and convincing myself not to buy ALL of them.  Here are some of my favorites.

J Crew Jacquard Dot Popover 

Anthropologie Jojo Blazer  

J Crew Scarf 

Anthropologie Dotty Monochrome Blouse

Welcome Home

Where do I even begin with how amazing the last few weeks have been?  They have certainly been busy but wonderful.  We welcomed home around 200 girls to Phi Mu at the University of Arkansas.  I am so proud to be a part of restarting our Alpha Beta chapter.  I am enjoying getting to know all the sweet girls and can't wait to make memories with them!

Just a few of my favorite pictures...

First Razorback game with the consultants!

Arkansas Consultants 

Waiving their bid cards in the air!

Welcome Home Alpha Beta!

Updates Galore

Happy Thursday, y'all!  I can't believe summer is already coming to an end.  It definitely feels like fall sometimes in Arkansas.  I can't wait until the leaves start turning.  It's going to be beautiful here near the Ozark Mountains.  The past 2 weeks have been very busy but also so much fun!  Since I last blogged, the sororities have had bid day.  I have never seen something as cool as the U of A's bid day.  Bid day in general is always so much fun, but this was amazing.  Since then, we have been participating in our own separate recruitment process.  I can't wait until Phi Mu's bid day in 10 days!

Bid day!

Just a little PR on campus

Arkansas Team!

I will try to be better about updating y'all once we get done with recruitment!  Hope everyone is doing well!

Quote of the Day

I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far.  Tomorrow is bid day at the U of A.  I've spent the week attending recruitment parties which has been so much fun.  I'm so excited because our recolonization process will officially begin tomorrow!  

I just love this quote.  I am in a huge transition period in my life and this is a quote that I keep reminding myself of daily.  

Lipstick Shades

Hey Y'all!  I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far!  We are in the middle of formal recruitment at the U of A and have been very busy.  I am absolutely in love with Greek life here.  I can't wait until Phi Mu's bid day!

My sweet great-grand little sent me the BEST present ever recently.  She sent me a monogrammed Lipstick Shades iPhone4 Otterbox case.  I am in love with it.  I've seen many monogrammed iPhone cases but I was so excited to find out they also make them in the Otterbox case.  I don't know about y'all, but I feel like I am always dropping my phone so it's important for me to have an Otterbox on my phone at all times.  This company has many different designs and monograms that you can choose from.  You can make your iPhone case exactly how you want it.  I would strongly recommend anyone getting this.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect design!

Woo Pig Sooie!

Hey y'all!  Sorry for the delay in blogging, I have been so busy with Phi Mu training and moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas.  We have been getting to meet people on and around campus and working with the greek life here.  I am in love with the town and campus!  I can certainly see why people love to go to school here and why they love the Razorbacks.  Here are a few pictures of us so far! 

Are any of y'all Razorback fans?   

I am loving Southern Trend already! 

Team USA!

I am loving the Olympics! Every day when I get back from training I immediately turn the TV on and watch the Olympics until bedtime. I love all the events but I must say that my favorite things to watch are gymnastics and swimming. Last nights events were amazing! I'm so proud of the amazing women of the Fab Five gymnastics team. I think it's safe to say that all of America is obsessed with them too. I was seriously on the edge of my seat last night watching Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympian. I have always thought he was a great athlete and it's amazing watching his success grow this Olympics. I've loved all the medals USA has gotten so far tonight! I can't wait to see how many more get brought home to our country!

What are your favorite Olympic events?

Go USA!!

Here are all the consultants with Michael Phelps on TV at the opening ceremony. His mom and sisters are Phi
Mus!

Words of Wisdom

I hope y'all are having a great weekend so far!  Mine has been wonderful!  I found this perfect quote by Audrey Hepburn on Pinterest the other day and I just had to share it.  Isn't laughing the best medicine?  

Working Lady

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far!  I have been SO busy, but loving every minute of my job as a chapter consultant.  We have been training at the headquarters from 9-5 every day and will be working through the weekend.  I've been learning so much.  It's funny to hear everyone's stories about the way their chapter does things differently.  I've been trying to work out in the morning, but that's only happened once.  I'm going to try to make it tomorrow, but waking up at 6AM is really hard when I haven't been waking up that early all summer.

After training today, all the consultants went to The Loft because they were having half off of everything in the store.  We got paid today so what better way to spend some of our first check?  I got the cutest dress, skirt, and top.  I've been needing more pink things for extension and Phi Mu events in general so it was perfect that we went there today.  Did any of y'all go to this sale?

Our first day!

Cute treats waiting for us at our seats! 

Goodbye NC, Hello Phi Mu America

I am officially on my way to Peachtree City, GA for training. I have 2 rolling suitcases that weigh about as much as I do, a Vera Bradley duffle, and a tote bag. It sure is hard to pack for a semester. Yesterday was such a bittersweet day in Wilmington packing up my final things and saying goodbyes. I seriously had the best 4 years of my life and I will always cherish the memories I made there. I'm excited about this next chapter in my life, but very nervous also. I can't wait to keep y'all updated on my travels and my experience at the University of Arkansas this fall.

One last photo from Wrightsville Beach for a while. I'm going to miss this beautiful town so much.

Monogrammed T Shirts

I have so many Phi Mu and Kappa Sigma t shirts and tanks that I don't know what to do with them all.  I still plan on wearing some of them- at least until I start to look too old to be able to pass for wearing them.  I don't want to be 25 and always wearing my 2008 bid day shirt though.  Now that I've graduated, I feel like I need a few other options than always wearing my Phi Mu stuff.  As y'all know from one of my older posts I am obsessed with any and EVERYTHING monogrammed.  I'm always looking for something new to monogram.  I thought, why not combine the two loves I have into one!  A monogrammed t shirt seemed to be the way to go.  Comfort Colors t shirts with a pocket are my absolute favorite.  They have so many colors to choose from and they are unbelievably soft.  I was the t shirt chair for my chapter my last semester of college (one of my favorite positions ever!) and I always ordered comfort colors stuff for our girls.  I have also recently started to buy my t shirts and tanks a little larger.  I'll go for a medium or large instead of my actual size because I like the bigger look.  It looks adorable with Norts too :)  My work, In the Loop, just started monogramming t shirts.  Instead of stitching the monogram on the pocket, she screen printed it.  I think they turned out to be so cute!  I can't wait to wear them!

Do y'all have monogrammed t shirts or any other cute ideas for monogrammed things?  I want to monogram some party tanks next!

Work Wardrobe

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I appreciate all of your kind words regarding my last post. It means more to me than you know.  Tyler and I went to Raleigh Saturday and were able to spend time with close friends.  So many of our friends have moved back there for work.  The town has certainly grown on me in the past few years.  We went shopping yesterday so I could find a few extra things to take with me to wear for my chapter consultant travels.  It's hard to pack a whole semester worth of things in 2 suitcases.  I can't believe I leave a week from today!  I wrote back in March about my exciting news of finding out I was hired by Phi Mu and given this amazing opportunity http://southernbug.blogspot.com/2012/03/exciting-news.html.

I wanted a few more versatile pieces to wear while I was traveling this next year.  I found some great pieces that I can incorporate into my wardrobe that will carry me through most of the fall.

I found this adorable dress at our Banana Republic in Wilmington.  I immediately fell in love with it because I'm obsessed with wearing yellow.  I'm 5'2 so I have to have petite sizes from here.  The Wilmington store doesn't carry petite so I tried to order it when I got home and OF COURSE the one size that was out of stock was my size.  The Streets at Southpoint had one dress left in my size.  I couldn't pass it up.

I've also been eyeing this blouse from Banana Republic and finally broke down and bought it.  It is very comfortable and I can wear it with so many things I have.  

Between all the recruitment parties I will be attending where I will be standing the whole time and business meetings, I thought I needed a pair of comfortable pumps.  I found these Ivanka Trump low-heel pumps yesterday at Nordstrom.  I wanted something that I was comfortable in walking around in all day.  I tried on many different nude pumps but these were my favorite.  

I also found this skirt at Nordstrom.  I have a lot of tops that will go with it so I thought it would be perfect to take with me in my suitcase.  It was such a good price that I just couldn't say no.  

I hope y'all have a good rest of your Monday! 

Address in the Stars

Tomorrow, July 14 marks 3 years since my mom lost her battle with cervical cancer. Not a day, or even hour, goes by that I don't think about her and wish that she were still here.

The past few days I've thought a lot about those few hours up until the time she passed away. It felt as though I was having an out of body experience. It seemed as if I was watching everything right before my eyes without fully accepting that it was happening to me. I grew up very fast in that instant.

I still remember every detail as if it were yesterday. I've not shared this with many people so I hope that y'all don't mind me sharing it with you. It was Sunday evening and I was leaving Washington to head back to Wilmington for summer school. I remember that my Granny, Mom, and I were talking about what we could do the following weekend for my Mom's 52nd birthday. She was so sick and we didn't want to do too much to exhaust her but we wanted to do something fun at the house. We decided we would talk about it over the week and plan something out. I gave my mom a kiss and walked to my car to head back to Wilmington. I didn't realize it at the time, but that was the first time my mom hadn't stood at the door to wave me goodbye as I drove away. Apparently, she was really upset about it because my Granny said she talked about it for a while after I left. She was too weak to do anything. I made my usual phone calls to my mom, dad and granny when I arrived in Wilmington and went to bed.

I was awoken around 1am (I think) by many different numbers calling me. I immediately began to freak out. I finally reached my Granny and was told that they had to take my mom to the hospital. This wasn't the first trip she made to the ER. She was so skinny and the chemotherapy she was taking was slowly breaking her down. My family had such high hopes for her and the idea of losing her wasn't something any of us discussed due to our positivity. You can imagine the shock when a nurse was put on the phone and explained to me that I needed to get home fast because they couldn't guarantee that they could keep my mom alive until then. My heart dropped. She put my mom on the phone and she told me how much she loved me and assured me that it wasn't necessary for me to come home. She said that she was going to be okay (typical of my mom to say). This was the last time I heard my mom's voice.

I was driven from Wilmington to Washington's hospital as soon as I got off the phone. I couldn't form tears. I wanted to, but the pain was so bad that I couldn't express it in any way. I arrived at the ER as they were taking my mom up to ICU. Once there, everything became slightly blurry. The doctor on duty was a high school friend's dad so that made me feel a little better. He explained to me and my family that my mom wasn't going to make it. They were going to do everything they could to make her comfortable but she was bleeding internally and there was nothing they could do to save her. Everything was breaking down in her small body. I wasn't ready to hear this. She had only been out of remission since January of that year. I didn't understand how this could be happening so soon, if at all. While we realized this time was much worse than the first time she was diagnosed, we just didn't think that it would end this way- nor were we told that it might. Since my parent's were divorced and I am an only child, it was my decision what happened. Talk about pressure. They had put my mom on life support right after I talked to her on the phone. We spent hours and hours sitting in the ICU room with her. Everyone took shifts and spent time with her. She was conscious and able to understand what was being said to her but she couldn't speak back. She was surrounded by everyone who loved her in the final moments of her life.

I spent some time with her alone in the few hours before her death. I was able to tell her things that I needed to tell her and also apologize for things in the past. She and I had come so far and become so close in the last few years of her life. I was grateful for the time we had together to become so close.

On Tuesday, July 14, 2009 around 2am, all of my mom's family and close friends went into her room in the ICU to be with her as she passed away. I never let go of her hand the entire time. A part of me never left that room on that day. My dad pulled me out of the room shortly after she passed away. I collapsed in the hallway of the hospital. Shortly later, my dear friend Allison showed up. I was still on the floor in the same spot. She never left my side for the following few days. I was constantly surrounded my friends, family, and sorority sisters. It was their strength and compassion that helped me get through the following days. I couldn't take things a day at a time right then. I literally took them a minute at a time, then hour at a time, then finally day at a time. I still grieve her death, but I try to focus on all the good times we had together. I never allowed myself time to grieve in the beginning. I came back to school and buried myself in Phi Mu and school work. This was such a positive escape for me from reality. I felt as though I had to be strong to get through everything. I still have my moments where I get really upset, but I think everyone does. They come at the most unexpected times.

This forever changed my life. I learned that life is so short and that I shouldn't take a single second for granted. I decided that I would spend the rest of my life doing everything that would make my mom proud. I have always been a very motivated person, but this accelerated me to a new level. Whenever something really good happens, I still find myself reaching for my phone to call her. The same when something bad happens. I have learned to pray a lot. I pray for strength to help me get through each day. Even though I wish my mom were still here, I am grateful for the time that I had with her. A part of her will live on with me forever.

One of my favorite pictures of my mom and I

Someone put this song on a CD for me shortly after my mom passed away. This song really expresses the way I felt and continue to feel. It's beautiful and came at the most perfect time.

Organization is Key

As y'all know from some of my blog posts, I'm a bit of an organization freak.  I am in the process of transferring all of my dates from my old Lilly Pulitzer planner to my new one.  I can't imagine not having everything I need to know written down.  Thank goodness for these planners.  Lilly also came out with these awesome stickers this year to add to your planner.  I bought the Greek ones since everything in my planner is Phi Mu related thus far.  They were only $6 and so adorable.  They have everything including recruitment, chapter meetings, game days, initiation, big/little, etc.  It's a must-have for all of those sorority girls out there.

Have y'all started organizing your planner for next year yet? 

Phi Mu National Convention

Where do I even begin with how wonderful this past week was in San Antonio?  First of all, I had never been to Texas before so just simply going was exciting.  All of the meals were amazing.  I don't think I've ever eaten as much beef though.  We had steak for lunch our first day and ribs the second day.  I'm not used to eating such heavy lunches.  Needless to say, I will be eating a lot of turkey and chicken this week :)  It was so interesting sitting in the business sessions.

Every small detail was perfect at convention.  I was obsessed with all of the centerpeices for our meals. The very last night of convention we have a Carnation Banquet.  This was unbelievably gorgeous.  The flowers were perfect and the dinner was delicious.  I am so proud to say that my chapter at UNC Wilmington was awarded the Philomathean Society award.  It was so exciting to see all of the awards that the chapters and alumnae chapters have won due to their dedication to our fraternity.

I really enjoyed being able to hang out with the Phi Mu chapter consultants this past week.  I am even more excited and ready to begin my job with these amazing women.  We will all be reunited at headquarters 2 weeks from today to begin our training.

Everyone at convention is given a name tag to wear

2012-2013 Chapter Consultants 

The University of Arkansas chapter consultant team!  So excited to recognize our Alpha Beta chapter this fall!

Collegiate luncheon